It's Me Again
by Spongewolf
Summary: An ever-growing collection of checkmateshipping family drabbles. Most recent: Status Changes
1. It's Me Again

Cheren was at the Aspertia Gym again today.

Hilda woke up to a note resting on the empty pillow beside her and the faint cooing of her six-month-old baby in the other room. She glanced at the digital clock flashing 6:00 AM before she sat up, picking up the lone piece of paper off the pillow.

_Hilda, _

_I'm so sorry about leaving early again today. My gym guide called me at 4 AM because of some late-night challengers that showed up again. (Why they don't show up at a more reasonable time, I'll never know.)_

_I'll take over baby duty as soon as I come home though, which shouldn't be too long from the time you wake up. Thanks for understanding, and as always, I love you so much._

Cheren had just recently re-opened his gym, but had not started his classes for the Pokemon students just yet. Even with his typical work halved, a trend had started of Trainers wanting rematches at the most inopportune times, so this was not the first time Hilda woke up to the other side of her bed being empty.

She rubbed her eyes, sat up, and stumbled down the hallway. Turning into the pastel-blue room, she was greeted by the reserved face of her young son, who had expected his father to save him from his crib.

"Sorry, Rudy," Hilda began as she lifted the baby into her arms, "it's me again."

Rudy, for reasons Hilda just couldn't understand, liked his father more than his mother. To Hilda, it felt as if, whenever Cheren came home, Rudy kicked and blubbered until he was saved from his mother's grasp. Daddy was his hero, while Mommy watched over him and fed him whenever Daddy wasn't home. It was an empty feeling, and she prayed that it wouldn't last forever.

"Why don't we go outside?" asked Hilda, not expecting an answer. Rudy was still a little tired, but Hilda knew he didn't need a nap right after the one he just had. She continued to ponder as she carried Rudy outside, his head resting on her shoulder.

Hilda strolled down the street, occasionally stopped by residents who would greet her. She would nod at the comments they gave her son.

_He looks just like his dad!_ Hilda nodded.

_How precious. When he grows up, he'll probably be a Gym Leader like him, huh?_ "Mmhm."

She would wave goodbye and continue her stroll, finally stopping at the Aspertia City lookout. After a moment of thought, she started up the stairs. Rudy lifted his head and looked at her with each step she took. Once they reached the top, his eyes fixated on the scenery in front of them. Hilda almost never ventured far when she left the house, but today, she was especially happy that she had. Rudy was looking at the same, beautiful scene that she had seen when she first returned to the Unova region.

She then remembered that was when her title of Champion was taken by Iris. Everyone knew that Cheren was the gym leader of the city, having been so for almost a decade, but after Hilda lost her champion position of 2 years, she was barely recognized by anyone. Her son even resembled his father more so than his mother, so she felt it was to be expected that everyone would compare Rudy to Cheren.

"Whatever you end up choosing to do..." Hilda started, but paused. Rudy turned his head to face his mother, not expecting her to have spoken. "Whatever you end up choosing to do, I know you'll be strong. Gym Leader, Champion, some other third thing... you'll get real strong, and you'll blow your father away." Rudy's expression did not change. Hilda didn't forget that he didn't exactly understand what she was saying... he was a baby, after all.

Even so, she continued. "But, you won't surpass me, of course. Mommy's really strong!"

Rudy giggled. Hilda flinched, not expecting any kind of response from him at all, let alone _a giggle_. This was the first time the baby had giggled at anything Hilda ever did.

"Oh, stop, Rudy, I was being serious..." Hilda smiled. She knew that if she got emotional, Rudy's laughing would stop. So she kept herself from shedding a tear. "Okay, kiddo... let's go back home. You're probably hungry, aren't you?"

She was responded to with more giggles. "Alright, I get it!"


	2. Status Change

_Timeline: Backwards, before Rudy is born. The prompt, suggested by Jenna, is of Hilda finding out she's pregnant._

* * *

Cheren gestured towards the chalkboard, which read _Grass_, _Fire_ and _Water_. "Can anyone tell me what Grass types are weak to?"

A little boy raised his hand. "Fire!"

"Yes, that's right! Fire types are stronger." The teacher drew an arrow from _Grass_ to _Fire_ on the chalkboard. "Also, didn't I tell you to take that cap off?" The boy pouted, refusing to take the Charmander cap off his head even after class had already started.

"Okay. If Grass types are weak to Fire types, then what type are they strong against?"

"WATER!" a girl responded without bothering to raise her hand.

"You're right, too! Though, please raise your hand first." Cheren began drawing an arrow from _Grass_ to _Water_. "So this leaves-"

He was cut off by his Xtransceiver ringing on his wrist, and accidentally turned the arrow into a jagged line across the chalkboard. Looking down at his wrist, he then glanced at his students. "...Excuse me for a second." Accepting the call, the familiar face of his best friend appeared on the screen.

"Heyyyy, Cheren! You doing anything today?"

Cheren looked exasperatedly at his friend. "Hilbert, I told you not to call me while I'm teaching unless it was an emergency."

"Yikes, I had no idea you had any classes today... Good thing this is emergency material. Bianca and I-"

"HILBERT," Cheren interrupted, "can you just call me later? When I don't have a class?"

"Yeah, yeah," Hilbert groaned, "just one second, this'll be quick. Bianca and I wanted to know if you and Hilda wanna swing by later today. Little Casey's been itching to see you two!"

"Okay, fine," Cheren replied quickly, "now _goodbye_!" He ended the call before Hilbert even had a chance to wish him the same.

Cheren's long time friend, Hilbert, had married his other friend Bianca a few years before Cheren married Hilda. Having been married earlier, Hilbert and Bianca were the first of the friends to have a baby, little Cassandra (whom Hilbert and Hilda call Casey), who would soon be celebrating her second birthday. Once Cheren's class ended, he and Hilda both went to visit their friends.

Over the course of the evening, Cheren noticed that Hilda spent most of the time fawning over Casey. When Hilbert wasn't talking Cheren's head off, he would overhear Hilda and Bianca playing with the toddler, paying no attention to just how silly their baby talk sounded to him. At one point, Hilbert even left his chair next to his friend just to join in. To Cheren, something felt so lively about their interactions. He could clearly see the love Hilbert and Bianca had for their daughter by the grins on their faces, and Hilda seemed considerably happier being able to simply revel in it.

The fun get-together eventually came to an end, and Cheren and Hilda walked back to their home in Aspertia City... and that's when it happened. Hilda looked Cheren straight in the eye and said, "We should have a baby."

Cheren jolted. "Really?"

"YES, really! Don't you think it's so much livelier at their house since Casey's there?" The brunette tilted her head and scrutinized her husband's face. "Why, do you not like the idea?"

"It's not that," Cheren countered, and after a moment's silence, he scratched the back of his neck. "I just... I wasn't sure when you were going to ask. You never seemed all that interested before today... what changed?"

Hilda wore a ridiculous thinking face. "Do I need a reason? It's not like I never wanted to be a mom or anything. I just wasn't sure when. But hey..." Bopping Cheren on the shoulder, she continued, "...no time like the present!"

Cheren ignored the playfulness of how Hilda approached the subject. "Are you sure, Hilda? This is a pretty big decision."

Hilda crossed her arms. "...Yeah. Pretty sure, I mean."

* * *

"Danny," Cheren groaned, "I know you really like that Charmander cap, but I told you so many times before to take it off." The boy in question turned his head, pretending not to hear. Ignoring this, Cheren turned again to the chalkboard and proceeded to write.

"One of the status conditions that can affect your Pokemon in battle is the Burn status-"

"Like a Charmander!" Danny blurted, followed by silence. "I bet a Charmander could do that, probably."

"It probably could, Danny." Cheren shook his head and continued writing. "With each move, the effects of the burn will hurt your Pokemon, so it's a good idea to use something to heal it." He drew next to the word _burn_ on the board. "You can use either a Burn Heal or a Rawst Berry if your Pokemon is burned."

Another boy raised his hand. "What about Fire types? Do they get burned?"

"Most of the time, no," Cheren responded, "but if the Pokemon's type is changed by a move in the battle, it is just as prone as any non-Fire Pokemon." He added this next to the drawing of the potion and the berry. "As long as they don't know Water Veil, that is."

"Mr. Cheren," a girl asked, "what are some other status changes?"

"Well-"

Cheren's Xtransceiver rang once again in the middle of his class. Reaching for the silence button, his hand froze when the screen read _Incoming Call: Hilda_, rather than Hilbert. Instead, Hilbert's sister appeared on the screen.

"Hilda, are you okay?!" Cheren asked before Hilda could even speak. "You never call during the day-"

"Shut up for a second," she quipped. "I need to tell you something really, really, _really_ important."

"More important than status changes?"

"It _is_ a status change, you nerd!" Hilda grinned. "You just went from being a husband to a FATHER!"

Cheren's face went blank. All the students held the same shocked expression. Cheren tried to balance himself by grabbing his desk with his free hand.

"Cheren?" Hilda asked after a few seconds of silence. "You there, geek? Hellooooo?"

"Sorry," he replied, wiping his teary eyes. "You really surprised me." Knowing that he couldn't leave his students right then and there to see Hilda, a part of him grew very impatient. "I'll go straight home after school."

"Don't get in any rush or anything," Hilda laughed.

Cheren smiled. "I need to start preparing for my status change, don't I?"


End file.
